Happy 250th Birthday Mozart

A Guide for Where to Start With Mozart

FOR WAKEUP TIME:
A wonderful sound to have on your CD-alarm clock is the G-minor symphony, No. 40. There are many good choices, from conductor Bruno Walter's versions with the New York Philharmonic and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra to a well-regarded recording by Leonard Bernstein with the Vienna Philharmonic on DG.

FOR ROMANCE:
"Don Giovanni" was the greatest romancer of them all. There is his mandolin aria "Deh, vieni alla finestra" ("Please, come to the window, oh my treasure") or the catalogue aria on the Don's conquests by Leporello, "Madamina, il catalogo e questo" ("My dear lady, this is a list"). Bryn Terfel gives spirited renditions on DG's "Bryn Terfel: Opera Arias" with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and James Levine.

FOR INCREASING A CHILD'S IQ:
Guaranteed to put a smile on a child's face is "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" ("A Little Night Music"). The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, known for its light, crisp versions, released a 1985 recording on DG that is full of sunshine.

FOR PRAYER:
A DVD of the Requiem, his final composition, and the Mass in C Minor has just been released by Philips. The 1991 performance at the beautiful Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, Spain, features conductor John Eliot Gardiner leading Barbara Bonney, Anne Sofie von Otter, Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Alastair Miles, with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists.

FOR A LONG DRIVE:
"Le Nozze di Figaro" ("The Marriage of Figaro") has many of Mozart's most brilliant tunes. There's no shortage of top contenders, including the 1955 Decca with Erich Kleiber conducting Cesare Sieppi, Hilda Gueden, Alfred Poell, Lisa della Casa and Suzanne Danco; and the 2003 Harmonia Mundi, with Rene Jacobs conducting Lorenzo Regazzo, Patrizia Ciofi, Simon Keenlyside, Veronique Gens and Angelika Kirchschlager. Until it is released commercially, the 1998 Metropolitan Opera version is only available from those who recorded the PBS telecast - it has James Levine conducting Bryn Terfel, Cecilia Bartoli, Dwayne Croft, Renee Fleming and Susanne Mentzer, and features the alternative arias "Un moto di gioia" and "Al desio di chi t'adora" in place of "Venite inginocchiatevi" and "Deh vieni." A quirky modernized version set in Trump Tower was staged by Peter Sellars and was released on a Decca DVD last year. For those desiring a couple of excerpts, try Fleming's "Signatures" on Decca, which features her flowing versions of "Porgi, armor" and "Dove sono" with Sir Georg Solti conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.

FOR CALMING DOWN:
Carlos Kleiber, the famed conductor who died in 2004, led orchestras in just two Mozart works during the latter half of his life, No. 33 in B-flat major and No. 36 in E-minor ("Linz"). His rendition of the 33rd with the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra at Munich's Herkulessaal on Oct. 21, 1996, was recorded by television cameras and was released on a DVD last year by DG. The music has a silken sheen, and his conducting has the grace of ballet.

FOR REVVING YOURSELF UP:
Natalie Dessay, the noted coloratura soprano, set off fireworks as the Queen of the Night in "Die Zauberfloete" ("The Magic Flute"). Versions appear on a Virgin Classics solo recording with Louis Langree leading the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and an Erato complete recording of the opera with William Christie conducting Les Arts Florissants. Diana Damrau is fierce in a BBC/Opus Arte DVD of a 2003 performance conducted by Colin Davis at the Royal Opera House in London

FOR APPEARING CULTURED AT YOUR DINNER PARTY:
Mozart composed more operas than "Die Zauberfloete" and the three famous collaborations with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte: "Le Nozze di Figaro,""Cosi fan tutte" and "Don Giovanni." He wrote 22 stage works, and all will be presented this summer at the Salzburg Festival in Austria. There is the semi-seria "Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail" ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"); the seria "Idomeneo" and "La Clemenza di Tito" ("The Clemency of Tito"); and the buffa "Mitradate." Some categorize "Entfuehrung" as a singspiel, as is "Zauberfloete."